Improvement in kilns for drying malt



1. GECMEN.

Kiln for Drying IvialhcfI Patented March 25,1873x L d' E! UNITED STATES PATENT CEEIGE.

JOSEPH GEOMEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN KILNS l-'OR DRYING MALT, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,194, dated Marrh 25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GEGMEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a .new and useful Improvement in Kilns for Drying Malt and other Materials 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this speciiication, in which drawing- Figure l represents a sectional front view of this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same in the plane a0 w, Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a front view of parts of the mechanism for adjusting the tilting oors. Fig. 4 is a transversesection of the same in the plane y y,

Fig. 3.

' Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements on a malt-kiln described in my patent j motion is imparted by means of slides, which are actuated by tappets secured to a shaft vthat extends up on the front of the kiln. With the door-moving slides are combined springbolts, which serve to lock the alternate oors while the sections of the remaining floors are tilted. These bolts are adj usted automatically by cams on the tappet-shaft. With the kiln containing sectional tilting floors is combined a charging-truck, the box of which is partitioned off to correspond to the sections of the upperiloor, and made to extend down toward said ioor to such a distance that when the box is filled with grain, malt, or other material to be dried, and then carried over the floor in the kiln, a uniform layer of the'required depth is formed on said floor. The kilnis heated by a furnace with deiiectors and air-channels, whereby the temperature of the heated gases admitted to the kiln can be regulated.

In the drawing, the letter A designates my kiln, which is by preference built up of vsheet metal, so that it can be moved from one place to another 5 but it may also be built of brick if it is to remain in a fixed position. In this kiln is a series of oors, B, an upper and lower, each of which is made in a number of sections, a a, of convenient width. The lower sections a are made of perforated sheet metal,

and constructed with side flanges, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the material spread thereon is enabled to retain its position and prevented from getting between the joints of the floorsections. The upper sections c and the lower sections a are mounted, respectively, on their own rock-shafts b b', which have their bearings in the sides of the kiln, and on one end of each of these rock-shafts is secured a crank, c, (best seen in Fig. 2.) All the cranks ofthe sections of each floor are connected by rods d with levers e, which turn loosely on studs f secured in suitable brackets g on the front of the kiln, and the hubs of these levers form chain-wheels h, round which extend chains t', which connect with the floor-moving slides j j, and these slides are exposed to the action of springs k k', which. have a tendency to turn the Hoor-sections to such a position that the material resting thereon will fall off. By referring to Fig. l of the drawing, it will be noticed that the chains ot' each floor connect with two iioormoving slides, and the slides j of each pair are provided' with notches l in their lower y edges, (see Fig. 43%,) while the slides j of each pair are provided with notches l in their upper edges. To avoid confusion I have designated one pair of my slides j j', and the other j jo', in Figs. 1 and 3. Between each succeeding pair of slides are situated two spring-bolts, m m, and if the notches in the slides j' and j, Fig. 3, come in the proper position, these spring-bolts drop into gear with them and retain the slides in position against the action of the springs k k. Said notches are so situ ated that when the spring-bolts engage with them the floor-sections are retained in a horizontal position. From the slides jandj"l in each succeeding pair project teeth n n', which are acted on by tappets o o', (see Fig. 2,) mounted on a vertical shaft, p, which extends up on the front of the kiln. On this shaft are also mounted cams g q', which serve to act on the spring-bolts m m whenever the shaft p is brought in the required position for this purpose. The tappets o of and cams q q are so arranged on the shaft p that when this shaft is turned the cam q first depresses the springbolt m of the top floor, and as soon as the slide j is released the sections of this floor turn on their rock-shafts, and the material lodged thereon is dumped on the iioor below. As the motion of the shaft p continues the tappet 0 acts on the teeth n of the rst slide j, and carries said slide together with the sections of the first door back to their original position, where they are a-gain locked by the spring-bolt m. At the same time the cam q', Fig. 4, raises the bolt m, and thereby the slide j, Fig. 3, is released, and the sections of the second oor are turned, and the material lodged thereon is dumped on the floor below. In this manner the sections of one floor after the other are caused to dump the material lodged on them on the floor below, and then they are again returned to their horizontal positions ready to receive a fresh charge from the iioor above.

The shaft p is turned by hand, or it may be turned by other power, and its motion is so timed that the material to be dried rests sufficiently long on each iioor to become perfectly dry by the time it is dumped from the last tloor into a reservoir or on a stationary floor below; or it may be returned again tothe top Hoor of the kiln by an elevator or other suitable means.

By these means the operation of turning over the material by hand is saved, and malt, grain, lime, or other materials can be dried in my kiln in a short time, and with great economy in labor.

The lower floor-sections al are made with vertical iian ges t2 on one edge, and with curved flanges b2 on the opposite edge, so that when said sections are brought in a horizontal position the material dropping down from above is not permitted to pass through between the sections, the curved iianges b2 of one section overlapping the vertical flanges a2 on the adjoining sections, while at the same time channels are left between the door-sections, through which the heated air or gas can readily ascend. By this arrangement a uniform heat is produced throughout the kiln. These airchannels may, however, also be produced by caps placed on the junctions between the oorseetions, or by other means suitable for this purpose.

On the top edge of my kiln are secured rails r to receive a truck, C, the box of which extends down within two inches, more or less, of the upper iioor in the kiln, the rails o" being made to run parallel with the sides ofthe door-sections. The box of the truck is divided by partitions s into a number of compartments, which correspond in width to the width of the floor-sections, and said partitions extend down close to the surface of the top door. (See Fig. 1.) When the truck is charged with the material to be dried, and moved over the top floor, a layer of such material is left upon said top oor corresponding in depth to the distance between the bottom edge of the feedbox and the surface of the top floor, and by these means the operation of feeding the material to be dried into the kiln is materially facilitated.

My kiln is heated by a furnace, D, which is situated close to one side of said kiln, and communicates with the same through a channel or aperture, t, which is provided with three, more or less, dampers, u, by means of which the course and the supply of the heated gases can be regula-ted. In the interior of the furnace over the grate is a series of deectors, c, extending from opposite sides of the furnace, so as to compel the heated gases to pass up in zigzag course, and in the outside Wall of the furnace are apertures w, which can be opened or closed by gates or slides w. Through these apertures cold air can be admitted for the purpose of regulating the temperature of the heated gases, which are allowed to pass into the kiln.

The mechanism for turning the floor-sections, which I have described in the foregoing speeiiieation, can also be applied to the oor-sections of an apparatus for sprouting malt, which I have described in my patent No. 7 6,624, dated August 14, 1868.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The perforated and anged sections al of the oor B, each mounted upon its own shaft b1, for operation in connection with the'tappetshaft p, as herein shown and described.

2. The door-tilting slides j j and bolts m m', in combination with the tappet-shaft p and with the sectional doors B, so that the sections of the floors are turned in succession and then returned to their horizontal position, substantially as described.

3. The truck C supported by rails on the kiln A, and divided into a series of partitions, s s, and depending within thekiln, as described, for operation in connection with the sectional and tilting doors a a, substantially as herein shown, for the purpose specified.

4. The arrangement of air-channels formed between the door sections et by means of flanges a2 b2, or their equivalents, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOSEPH GEGMEN.

Witnesses;

W. HAUFF, E. F. KAscrENHUBER. 

